As we welcome the month of December, our thoughts turn to the holidays and the opportunity for some well-deserved time away from schoolwork.

And it’s not just any break … it’s the ONLY time during the U.S. school year in which we ALL observe more than a long weekend off at the exact same time.

Pretty cool when you stop to think about it, right? Every single school will be shut down from at least December 24th through January 1st.

So, I’m inviting you to take those 10 days in December (more or less, depending on your preferences and time off) to observe a sabbatical from school work or even thinking about school.

A sabbatical doesn’t need to be a perfectly restful, meditative experience (although it certainly can be).

Rather, it’s an opportunity to be fully present in whatever you have planned at the end of December without allowing the weight of work responsibilities to pull you away.

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During your sabbatical, you don't have to DO anything, and you don’t need to have an agenda or list of things you’d like to accomplish or experience.

You can try making a list of things you’d like to do over your sabbatical: watch a certain movie, hike a certain trail, bake a certain dessert, etc.

Then, see how it feels to have a list.

Do you feel like you’re completing a holiday bucket list and find it super rewarding, knowing that you’re creating time for all these awesome experiences and checking them off?

Or does it feel like pressure to you, like you’re not making the most of your time unless you’re getting things done?

Neither of these perspectives are right or wrong. It’s just about what works for you.

So, think of this as an intentional holiday sabbatical experiment. Try out an approach or two, and learn from it. You might even find you develop practices you can repeat on shorter breaks and long weekends, and even on regular weekends and weeknights.

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As I mentioned in the subject line, you won’t be hearing from me again until January.

My plan is to spend the first half of December doing deep work on the Finding Flow resources for elementary grades so I can release some materials for you in the new year.

Then, I’ll be completely offline from Dec. 23rd-Jan. 1st.

With everything happening in the world and in our schools, this feels like a really important time for what I think of as “radical re-imagination.”

This is the ability to imagine the world, life, and institutions not as they are or have been, but in an entirely new way, so that we can bring that imagination into reality.

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In the stillness of winter, it may look like there’s little activity in the natural world, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening.

The time of rest is essential preparation for the activity of the spring to come. There will be a time for doing…but first, there must be a time for stillness.

My hope is that this intentional time to rest from everything school-related will help us return in January feeling re-inspired and deeply grounded in our purpose and mission.

Wishing you a much-needed time of rest, and a wonderful break before we ring in the new year together.

Angela
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Angela Watson Stay connected on social media: ​​​​​​

P.O. Box 175, Bushkill, PA 18324
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